


things you said over the phone

by WitchyBee



Series: things you said... [4]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Long-Distance Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-16
Updated: 2015-02-16
Packaged: 2018-03-13 06:09:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,075
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3370733
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WitchyBee/pseuds/WitchyBee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Damn time zones. A constant reminder of the insurmountable distance between them.</p><p>"Tell me something interesting," Lavellan yawns.</p>
            </blockquote>





	things you said over the phone

**Author's Note:**

> Since this is modern AU, Solas isn't away from Lavellan on elven god business. He's just, I don't know, traveling for work. And Lavellan can't go with him since she's busy running her own organization. Probably.

Lavellan dedicates herself to convincing Solas that he needs a smartphone. The process takes months, as they are both equally matched in stubbornness.

"That paperweight of yours is a thousand years old. You, Solas, are the last person alive with a cellphone like that. People will think you literally woke up in the 21st century, saw that phone, and thought, 'Wow! It's a lot more efficient than smoke signals.'"

"But mine has served me well," he protests vehemently. "It can make calls and send text messages. What other purpose could I need it for?"

"Well, talking to me, for one," Lavellan suggests. "We could send pictures and videos to each other while you're gone. Plus, you'd have Google on your phone which is always useful. Come on, embrace change. It's the future."

Her persistence is rewarded when he finally relents and buys an iPhone.

\------------------------------------

She's lying in bed with the cellphone pressed to her ear, cradled against her shoulder. It's late at night, but early where he is. Damn time zones. A constant reminder of the insurmountable distance between them.

"Tell me something interesting," Lavellan yawns.

"As the luminosity of our sun increases, in approximately 600 million years, decreased levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere will cause the extinction of most plants and animals. In 7.5 billion years, the sun will likely become a red giant, expanding until it crosses Earth's orbit and ultimately absorbs our planet."

In a strange way, the words sound romantic, the rhythm of his voice forming them into poetry. She struggles to resist being lulled by it. 

"You got that from Wikipedia just now, didn't you." She smiles in amusement. "Very interesting, but I meant a story about your travels. An excerpt from a good book you've read. Someone's horribly closed-minded opinion you saw on the internet. That kind of thing."

Solas tells her about a journal he recently found left behind in his hotel room. It was the account of a lonely widower's pilgrimage to visit all the places he and his wife had wanted to see together. The man described standing before the Great Pyramids or a vast ocean, and feeling unworthy to look upon such beauty without her by his side.

"Wow. No wonder you're especially grim and fatalistic today," Lavellan murmurs sadly once the tale is done. "Poor man."

"Indeed, I can think of few fates worse than being apart from one's beloved, in solitude forever."

"Solas..." She sits up straighter, concerned.

"Ah. Forgive my melancholy. You are tired and I have disturbed you enough for one evening. Goodnight, my heart."

"Wait, don't go--"

But all she hears is silence. He'd already hung up.

\--------------------------------------------

"Hello," Solas greets her when he picks up the phone. He coughs slightly; she can practically hear the grimace in his voice. That means only one thing.

"Are you drinking tea?"

"Possibly," he admits after a moment's pause.

"Is it penance for hanging up on me the other night?" Lavellan asks.

"I'm sorry. That was a mistake. You deserve better."

"Yeah, well, it's okay," she says. "You're forgiven. Solas...you don't need to be alone. I'm here, as much as I can without actually being there. I know this isn't easy for either one of us. But you have to trust me."

"It's been so long since I could trust someone," he confides.

"I know."

"I'll work on it."

They love each other. Nothing else matters with so many miles between them.

\--------------------------------------------

His face on the monitor, even through a low resolution webcam, nearly undoes her. But Lavellan refuses to cry. She will be strong.

"Vhenan," he says, voice muddled by a poor Skype connection.

"Solas... Are you all right?" She can tell he hasn't been sleeping adequately. His eyes are red, with dark circles beneath. Face gaunt, shoulders tense--he's clearly stressed and overworked.

"I am fine; you needn't concern yourself."

"No, you're not. Don't lie to me. Of course I'm going to worry about--"

" _Please_ , vhenan."

"I miss you. Every fucking day. When are you coming home?" Lavellan asks, fearing the answer and expecting none.

"As soon as I can," Solas replies. "I'm sorry."

"Just...promise me you'll take care of yourself, okay?"

"I promise." He absently touches the wolf's jawbone that hangs from a leather cord around his neck, as always. "Dareth shiral."

"Dareth shiral," Lavellan echoes. Though Solas would roll his eyes if he knew, she prays silently for Mythal to protect him and Ghilan'nain to guide him safely home to her waiting arms.

\-----------------------------------

"Where are you?"

"Kirkwall Liberty International Airport. I am sitting in a very uncomfortable chair, eating a breakfast of microwaved eggs on a stale bagel. In short, I believe this might be the worst place in the world."

"Okay. But where are you _really_ , right now?" Lavellan asks.

It takes Solas about ten seconds longer than it should have to discern her meaning.

"With you," he replies, and she can hear the smile in his voice.

_Just like that they're together again, hiking through Emerald Graves National Park, examining the war monuments and trespassing in dilapidated temples deemed too unsafe for tourists, but to them such places are a trove of ancient secrets waiting to be discovered._

_Later, they set up camp in the woods. When Solas unpacks his heavy satchel, Lavellan laughs--a sound like the bubbling brook nearby. "You really are prepared for any eventuality, aren't you?"_

_He smiles, and tells her it's a habit from his youth._

_She calls him a Boy Scout._

_They fall asleep under the stars. Solas awakens to golden sunlight streaming through the canopy of trees, a chorus of birds greeting the dawn, and Lavellan's warmth beside him. It's a good memory._

For a blissful moment, they live in this shared dream, until the physical world jarringly reasserts itself. That damn prerecorded announcement that plays on a loop every ten minutes blares through the loudspeakers again, reminding all passengers to report any unattended/suspicious luggage immediately and also that smoking in the terminal is prohibited by law.

He is in an airport, and it's almost time to board another plane. A plane that will take him farther still from his vhenan.

"Goodbye, ma arla."

 _My home_. She is home to him. His heart. Once, when he was younger, Solas had taken quite easily to a life of wandering, but then Lavellan changed everything. Now he would gladly sacrifice it all just to be with her.


End file.
